Orioles' Davis tops fan voting

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NEW YORK Baltimore slugger Chris Davis powered past Detroit Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera in the final week to claim the most fan votes in All-Star Game balloting, and Washington outfielder Bryce Harper used a final surge to win a spot in the National League's starting lineup.

Right-hander Max Scherzer was one of a major league-best six Tigers chosen for the All-Star Game on July 16 at Citi Field in New York. St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina led the NL fan vote announced Saturday. He is one of the Cardinals' five All-Stars, tops in the NL.

“I think any time you are getting that recognition not only from your fan base but from everybody across the nation I think it feels good to know that people are watching,” Davis said.

Mets young ace Matt Harvey and third baseman David Wright will represent the host team in the 84th All-Star Game. Harvey received the most votes among NL pitchers in the player balloting, outpacing the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw.

Cuban defector Yasiel Puig wasn't picked — not yet, at least. The Dodgers outfielder with just one breathless month in the big leagues is among five candidates for the final NL spot, with fans able to vote online through Thursday.

Puig is joined in the final NL five by shortstop Ian Desmond of Washington, first basemen Freddie Freeman of Atlanta, Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers and outfielder Hunter Pence of San Francisco.

The American League's five are all relievers: Detroit's Joaquin Benoit, Toronto's Steve Delabar, the Yankees' David Robertson, Texas' Tanner Scheppers, and Boston's Koji Uehara.

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was one of the 68 players selected. The 43-year-old career saves leader will hop across town as part of his retirement tour for a 13th All-Star appearance, second most by a pitcher behind Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, who made 17 teams.

“The fact that I went through all the adversity and I'm standing here talking about the All-Star Game … it's a privilege,” said Rivera, who has 29 saves this year after missing nearly all of last season because of a torn knee ligament.

Davis finished with 8,272,243 fan votes to edge Cabrera, who had 8,013,874, for his first All-Star selection. Davis has 33 homers.

Davis is the second first-time All-Star to lead the voting, joining Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (2001).

The first baseman with the cool nickname of “Crush” is one of three Orioles to be selected by fans (joining J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones), the first time that has happened since Cal Ripken Jr. was one of the picks in 1997.

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